Work starts on $100 million building to launch industrial park near Stockton airport

Construction has started on an initial $100 million building project at San Joaquin County’s Airpark 599, an industrial park next to Stockton Metropolitan Airport.

Supervisors and developers broke ground in mid-November on the project after more than a decade of planning and delays, the Stockton Record reports. The first phase will include a 1.2 million-sq. ft. structure on 60 acres of county land, near the intersection of Arch Airport Road, between Highway 99 and Interstate 5.

The first phase will likely be completed in a year, says project broker Blake Rasmussen. “If you go east of San Francisco, (San Joaquin County has) the most desirous industrial land in California,” District 3 supervisor Tom Patti told the newspaper.

Developer Catellus began work on roads and utility hookups in back in 2009, and county officials secured a deal to annex land for the park from the city of Stockton in 2015.

Work on the first building should help attract prospective tenants, Rasmussen said. It could house an e-commerce center, a cargo or commodities facility, light manufacturing or another operation.

“The thing that really matters, or is significant to the community, (is) job creation,” Rasmussen said. “Not just construction jobs, but well-paying jobs for the industries located in the project.”

Under current plans, the full project will include 3.5 million sq. ft. of industrial space and 12,000 sq. ft. of commercial space.